Telecoms Chamber wants extensive public education on E-Levy before May 1

Misinformation on E-Levy may affect collection, Ken Ashigbey

E-Levy to be implemented in May

We will do whatever is possible to start implementation of E-Levy

Chief Executive of the Ghana Telecoms Chamber Dr. Ken Ashigbey has stated that Ghanaians need to be educated properly on the Electronic Transfer Levy before its implementation on May 1.

The Ghana Revenue Authority announced that the implementation of the E-Levy will begin on May 1, 2022.

However, several concerns have been raised on the scope of transfers that will be affected by the levy including salary payments.

In an interview with JoyNews, the CEO of the Chamber noted that misinformation on the scope of the levy can defeat its intended purpose since may desist from the usage of mobile money transactions.

“We have seen what has happened in other markets when these levies have been introduced on mobile money. We all know by the basic economics that we all learned and it’s a reason we’ve been engaging government about ways in which we can mitigate unintended consequences and some of these have been taken on board and we are implementing them,” he said.

Dr. Ken Ashigbey also stated that the communication around the levy should be checked to avoid any negative impacts.

“How do we educate the consumers so people can understand it in such a way that we are not negatively impacted?” he quizzed.

He also wants stakeholders including the government and the Ghana Revenue Authority to come clear on the processes involved in the operationalization of the levy.

“I hear the policymaker talk about one month and I am hoping that our colleagues, the GRA, and also the technical partners, especially would be able to speak truth to authority and say the thing that actually can be done,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Chamber has assured that it “would do what is humanly possible to ensure that what the law imposes on us we are able to do.”

“My recommendation, my advice I have given is that we need to start very simply so that in terms of the configurations that need to be done, we can do that well. Bear in mind [that] government requires transactions to go on to be able to generate the revenue."

“You don’t want the situation that because you want to compute the taxes and to find out what exemptions there are, transactions begin to fail,” he added.